Friday morning, 6 May 2005, I awoke wondering whether the past few months had been a bad dream, contemplating what the future might hold. It was the day after the general election. ‘My’ party had won, but my result, while respectable, was a distant second place. So, this Friday morning, I know how the vast majority of the 4,379 candidates running in the election will be feeling, which is why I encourage us all to spare a thought and prayer for them in the days and weeks ahead.
Understandably, very few apart from close family, friends, and the most ardent party activists will give much attention to the candidates who lose. Perhaps a few prominent politicians will be interviewed alongside pictures of the ex-cabinet member who lost their seat to a fresh-faced young candidate. But in general, life moves swiftly on, and those who lose are quickly forgotten about.
It is understandable. We want to know what a new Government may do; who will be the leading figures shaping our lives over the next few years. If we do think about those who lost, it will be in the context of the next competition – who will lead the opposition, will there be a change in party leader, which faction’ will come to dominate their party, and so on.
But of the 3,729 candidates not elected to sit in Parliament for the next five years many will face a similar mixture of emotions as I did on that morning in 2005.
There may be regret and anger.
I know for a long time I wondered whether there were things I could have done differently. Things I did not say or do that could have made a difference. “If we had planned to do this… if we could have avoided… should I have…”; they will all be questions on the lips of so many on Friday morning.
Personally, I also felt there were things said and done against me that were deeply unfair, and so I was also angry that the unjust seemed to prevail. I could identify with the Psalmist’s cry of “why do the wicked prosper?”
Politics is unfair and cruel. That is the reality. Too often it is not a meritocracy. Candidates lose, not because they are not able or honourable, but because voters preferred another party or another leader.
On the morning after the election, I suspect there will be hundreds if not thousands of candidates who will need to be reminded that their identity and worth is not in politics, being a candidate, or in seeking the approval of local voters.
I was immensely grateful for close friends and teachers who reminded me that my identity was in Jesus. I was part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood and God’s special possession. God knows how those former candidates and MPs without that security will cope, which Is why they need our prayers.
I also needed to learn what it meant to forgive. I felt there were untrue claims and accusations made against me during the campaign, and tactics deployed that were designed to intimidate and mislead. I did feel that the result was unfair and I was angry that my opponent and his team would ‘stoop that low’ to win, But I also needed to learn how to forgive.
To this day I believe I ran an honourable campaign, giving more respect than I received; and I would like to think I would have made a good MP. I know God called me to run but I do not feel he let me down. That does not mean he didn’t need to teach me how to forgive my opponent. That is an ongoing process God is teaching me patiently over time.
There will be many like me who will need to learn forgiveness in the weeks, months and years after the election. Like me they may need to learn how to forgive opponents that hurt or wronged them, or learn how to forgive themselves, the electorate, or God for not giving them their hearts’ desire. Many of us should be able to empathise with how long and hard that path may be.
Finally, pray that those who were defeated in the election still have a real sense of calling into public service, despite their loss.
Being a candidate is hugely costly. Some do it for fun, others might be motivated by spite and hate, but the great majority run because they want to serve others. We need to remember that in an age increasingly cynical about politics and politicians.
In the midst of those who have lost there will be MPs who have served their local area well. They did not lose because they did a bad job for their local constituents but because most people vote for the Prime Minster or party they want to be in government (or to keep the one they do not want out).
I lived in the constituency I was running in for over four months before the election. The Monday after polling day I was back at the desk I had not seen for months. It took several months for me to slowly work out that God could still have a calling for me into the public square and that his plan was good.
There is evidence that in the current environment good people are staying out of politics and public life because of the cost and the emotional toll it has on the individual and their family. I know firsthand some of what that means. But if good people are deterred, they leave a vacuum that will be filled by others of less capability and virtuous character. That would be a tragedy for our national and public life.
So, in the days after the election, I will intentionally remember how I felt nineteen years ago and send a card or text message to those who I know who lost, thanking them for their service and reminding them that God may still be calling them into public life and service, just in a different way.
And I will pray that they may know His grace and provision, as we pray for ourselves and the new government.
